217 Comments

Wow, you guys are not watching the same team I’m watching. Galchenyuk is one of their best players, mis-utilized by Julien. For whatever reason, Julien has been giving other players an opportunity before him. I think Drouin has been quite ordinary so far, he is certainly worse than Galchenyuk in that number 1 center position. Face-offs don’t make a huge difference, just look at Scheifele in Winnipeg, his numbers were even worse than Galchenyuk’s last season. Danault has also been underachieving at center on the second line. I would move Danault to the third line, play Plekanec on his wing with Byron on the other side.

Just checked in to monitor Drouin and was noticing the fans prospective line combos. He can be great offensively but is a liability on defense due mainly to his effort on that end. Your line combos have to consider the units ability to defend. I too was frustrated with all TB’s supposed firepower that they would go many games with 1 or 2 goals last year. So far so good this year. Best of luck with Drouin. I’m guessing Sergachev will get sent to minors for some more maturing.

Shooting from the parking lot – our Captain’s speciality. Works great on lower end teams with crappy goalies and he often feasts on those team but when the going gets tough he refuses to go to the areas he needs to go to to score. When we’re relying on him to make the difference, well lets just say Guy Lafleur has had him pegged a long time ago. The wrong player was shipped out of here to Nashville.

Galchenyuk has been completely mismanaged. Good teams accentuate a players god given talents and put him in situations where he will succeed and flourish. The Canadiens have done the exact opposite in response to media and fan pressure that has come because Marc Bergevin has not done anything to address the teams huge hole at center. The resulting damage to Galchenyuk’s ego and play has the kid playing at the level of a fourth line player. We do not know if it is intentional to force a trade or just the result of the stupidity of Bergevin in publicly denouncing his player. You reap what you sow. Dumbasses.

Moves have to be spread out so the natty turd-slinging blind squirrel doesn’t look completely incompetent.

Remember last year, when he looked to bolster his squad for the playoffs? King, Ott, DNP, Nesterov? None in the NHL this year. Awesome work. Davidson? A fringe NHLer (MB’s favourite thing) and my loins will always hate him because of the astronomical price paid in that deal. Benn? Another replacement-level dude.

This year’s pond-dredging? Streit, Hemsky, Morrow. Blech.

Waiving them all at once wouldn’t look good. Better to bury a potential halfway decent acquisition in the minors to protect these ‘assets’.

And your collection of Phlemgko on defence is so lukewarm, you’re actually counting on a small 19-year-old to spend time on your top pair.

I just wish he’d quit bringing in all these puds. 10 guys over 30 is just daft.

I’d rather watch McCarron and Lernout help battle the soffness quotient.

Let’s see some kids. There was no reason Hudon shouldn’t have been up last year, other than blockage by puds. Jerabek’s not a kid, but he has to be better than Jordie Benn. If he’s not, why pick him up in the first place?

Hemsky and Morrow are both in very different situations from Streit. Morrow will be up and down, is only for depth and Hemsky is only going to play 40-50 games when needed. The Streit signing I did not understand at all.

Doubt he’ll be canned by November, and I tend to agree that he is likely to last the year no matter what, but:

If by January they are significantly out of a playoff spot and none of the moves he has made appear to be paying out in MTL’s favour, I could see Molson not wanting to give him another trade-deadline and off-season. The trade deadline is probably not as much an issue in MTL since most of their contracts are on the books for next year as well, but I’m not sure you want a desperate GM with his finger on the dial heading down the home stretch.

Agree! It will all depend on if Habs “seem” ore “are” out of a playoff spot. If Habs are in the mix he stays. But lets face it if they go anywhere between 1 – 7 to 1 – 10 record they’re done. This team I don’t think can put a 10 – 15 game win streak together to come out of a hole

I don’t understand why people keep saying Mete should be sent down, and that he is only here because the habs have no other options.
I think that is insulting to Mete. He is playing with the habs because he deserves to be here. Keep proving the critics wrong Mete!

The only folks that are saying that are the ones that said he would never make it or when it appeared that he would initially, said he wouldn’t make it past 9 games and when he continued to play well and stick said that it’s only because the overall D was weak…
Some people hate to be wrong and think they’re clever when they continually move the goal posts and think that no one gets it…

I never said that he would play 9 games and get sent down nor did I ever construe that as making the club. I said that he would make the team and he will (has). In other words, stay for the year.
You, on the other hand, will change the narrative to the concept that he only made the club because our D is so poor not that he is capable.
You’re only kidding yourself… nobody’s buying it…

It’d be more than entertaining. It’d probably contribute to improved play. Is there a team in the league that needs more spark right now than the Habs? Problem is, what do you do with DLR, Mitchell, Hemsky and Benn? That is more than $4M in one-way NHL contracts, and none of them will have much value outside of MTL….

Yesterday i suggested this is the best offer they could get when shopping Streit
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There can’t be a market for a player like that. The best offer would be “put him on waivers and we might do you a favor and take him”.
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I wonder if he found a taker.

It’s funny. When Galchenyuk arrived, he was positioned as a play maker, not a sniper. People said his passing was what made Yakupov such a weapon in junior. What we’ve seen from him has been precisely the opposite. Fantastic one-timer and a 30 goal season to go with it.

The problem, it seemed, was that he was disastrously irresponsible in the defensive zone, far too much so to play centre. So they put him on the wing.

So far this year, I’ve noticed that he has been miles better defensively. Present, aware and working hard on the breakouts. Where he has been disastrous is in the O-zone and his passing has been the problem. The number of WTF? giveaways, with no team mate within yards of the pass, has been incredible. Did it again twice against Chicago. It’s like he is playing pond hockey, with his eyes down and zero awareness of the players around him (for or against).

I have no idea what the solution is, but I suspect that rewarding his improved responsibility in the D-zone by putting him back at C might help at least evaluate the problem. Even if on the fourth line, maybe that’s the only way he can “see” the game properly and create a mental picture of where everyone is, or should be.

Again, I’m not sure how we got here, but I’m certainly not amongst those who think anyone but AG27 is responsible for the mess he’s in. That said, there’s just too much talent there to not keep trying to find a fix.

All this talk about Casperetty is kinda funny. The stats are true, he has a good wrist shot and has scored many of goals with it, so why not put the lesser talent with him because thats all he does anyone is shoot from everywhere. he has no hands to make any moves, terrible at passing the puck, not good in close quarters. His one timer isnt even very good so like I said, put him on the 2nd line and let druin, chucky and lehkonen play together.

The US are out of the World Cup. This required the top two (already qualified) teams, Mexico and Costa Rica, to lose their final games to Panama and Honduras, which they did. (Also the US had to lose to tiny Trinidad and Tobago.)

Coach Bruce Arena of the US says central American teams had motivation to see the US excluded because of Trump.

Gaudreau, Marchand, Pavelski, Tavares, Drouin, Couture and yes, Crosby were all turnover machines last year. I imagine all of their teams demoted them for such shoddy play with the puck.

To say that, in today’s NHL, all forwards must be squeeky clean with the puck to be valued is simply silly. And no, I’m not comparing Galchenyuk’s talent level to these guys…just making a point that not all players have to be carbon copies of Bob Gainey.

Teams can use a carrot or stick approach with players but with Galchenyuk, the carrot looks like it’s made of wood and shaped like a bat. If they want him to turn into Guy Carbonneau, they might as well trade him right now cause that will never happen. Does he make boneheaded passes? Yes. Does he overhandle the puck? Yes. That’s why you put him with a guy like Drouin who can carry the puck into the zone and find Galchenyuk for his lethal one-timer. I’m hoping beyond hope that Hemsky can take on that role and carry the puck and that Mitchell will simply get out of the way.

What worries me about MB is that he has hooked his wagon to the Price locomotive and he can ill afford to have that locomotive look bad. So really hoping we don’t see too many trades for circle-the-wagon kind of players over skill players.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

Remember Andrighetto? He’s lighting it up in Colorado. Had flashes but overall sucked in a Habs sweater. I’ll bet if we trade Chucky the same thing will happen and he’ll be great somewhere else. You can blame coaching if you want but I think it’s the individual and how they handle the pressure in Montreal. With the media and the people on the street living and breathing the team, it takes a special player to really do well. Chucky doesn’t have it in him. The things he’s saying in interviews shows his attitude isn’t right and he’ll be on his way out soon. But don’t trade him anywhere in the east….. It’s really hard to develop young talent the way all the other teams do in the lions den that is the Montreal market. Unless we pull a Leafs and purposely shank a season to get a first round pick, look for more of the same. They can’t do that though because unlike the idiot sheep Leaf fans, there will be empty seats if that happened. They’re not used to 50 years with no cup.

4 games, 4 points. Hardly lighting it up. I’d say it’s more a result of deployment. He’s playing with Nathan MacKinnon and he’s on the power play. Had he played on the top line in Montreal and had powerplay minutes he would have done better statistically, as would any player. But Montreal had better players who could play on the top line and the powerplay.

I, like others, have been a big supporter of Charles Hudon and have recently been soapbox petitioning for him to play with a more offensive center, much like Senior Chucky or Rabbi Chucky, either works,

and the fact that Charlie has 16 shots in 4 games, equaling captain Clutch, makes me feel that he is due for a big break out soon.

Play him with Drouin! Split Patch and Drouin up and spread the talent out.

We have one legitimate first line player in Drouin and 2 or 3 borderline first liners in Leks and Chucky. Thats it. Patch and Gally are not and therefore do not do well up against # 1 line competition. So logic says play Chuchy Drouin and Leks together PERIOD. Patches Pleks and Gally. Danault Hudon and Byron. Finally DLR Shaw and pick-em.

2nd in even strength goals and game winning goals to Ovechkin last four seasons. 1st in third period goals. The criticism that Pacioretty gets is insane. People can’t possibly be paying attention and somehow still think Pacioretty is a problem.

Patch is among the very top scoring wingers over the last 5 years. He’s never scored fewer than 30 goals or 60 points in a full NHL season.
That’s NOT a “borderline first liner”?

Jeez. If anyone deserves to play with a Legitimate first line player… or more specifically a first line centre… it’s Him.

Max has always faced the toughest defenders the opposition can throw at him and he’s always produced. He’s never had a secondary line to draw those assignments away from him.

Even more so, He’s always been the easy mark on his line. Hopefully, with Drouin, he finally has a linemate that will garner a little more than passing interest from a secondary defensive player on the ice.

Let’s look at it this way: If the Habs were playing the Habs… Max is facing Weber or Alzner on almost every shift. His linemates get to deal with Mete or Emelin or Beaulieu or Petry…

As for Artturi… he has scored 18 goals in the NHL.
And that IS a “borderline first liner”?

I love Lehkonen… High Hopes for this guy, but… you are waaaaaay out to lunch on this one, Comptey.

Everyone expects the Habs to score more than a goal a game but the reality is that the Habs have struggled to score for the last 3 years…They have struggled to score in the playoffs like last year…Even when CJ took over their record was misleading as they won many close games and s/o and o/t games…Not sure why this Habs team should be any better scoring wise than the last 3 editions…

who knows what is really happening, but, chucky is playing like he’s lost faith in the coaching staff’s ability to teach him properly, i don’t think he believes he knows everything or believes he is playing well, it’s just that the habs cannot “teach” him anymore.

when 2 family members refuse to see the value of the other, holidays suck…

He’s lost confidence and that’s why I blame coaching. MT screwed him up but he’s gone & CJ is falling in the same trap. He’s a winger, no he’s a center, He’s a ist liner, no a 2nd, 3rd oh yeah a 4th liner. If that’s not enough to shatter any player’s confidence I don’t know what is.

If we all agree that #27 is a talented player, he must play with other talented players namely Drouin & Paccioretty.

What was once maybe a crack in the relationship may have gone full rift once Bergevin made his pre-season comments. Despite all the noise to the contrary, Galchenyuk has not been a terrible centreman. The start of last season gave a glimpse of what was possible, but he lost his spot to injury and was never really given a chance to settle back in on that line. There are good reasons for that, but they shouldn’t have precluded him from ever playing the position again in MTL. He simply has warts defensively and is inconsistent at the dot. These are things that can be fixed if management has patience and a willingness to work with him. And vice-versa, of course.

One thing I would like to see with Chucky is for the team to use him more to carry the puck through the neutral zone. If you just tell him all the time to chase a dump in then trade him for a grinder. This is why I would prefer he play center; especially on the 4th line. He’s easily better than DLR and Mitchell.

I have sadly come to terms with the fact he’ll likely never be a Centre on this team. But….he should be given some freedom yes. And coming down the wing, his (4th line) Centre can cover his defensive tracks.

A couple slick moves and a seeing a couple pucks go into the net will boost that confidence level!

Also, if he is given PP time, for heaven’s sake give him someone on the point who can QB the man advantage, FFS!

There is a huge disconnect between the way Galchenyuk sees himself and the way he plays.

He sees himself as a star, because he has the skills of a star.

But he doesn’t make his linemates better at all. He slows down the play and doesn’t make good decisions with the puck. He stick handles when he should pass, he passes when he should shoot, he often shoots high or wide, all things that kill plays.

Right now, not last year, not the year before, he’s playing terrible.

The coach wants nothing more than for him to score, for anyone to score, because it’s the coach’s job to win games, and he can’t win if his team doesn’t score.

The coach would put Galchenyuk right back in the top 6 as soon as he would see Galchenyuk’s play improve, which involves moving his feet, driving to the net, making good decisions with and without the puck, not turning it over, backchecking hard, covering his position on the ice defensively.

A clear indication of what’s happening with Galchenyuk is that this is the 2nd coach who’s had a problem with his play.

I heard Dave Reid on That’s Hockey explain the situation well last night. He believes Galcheyuk has been placed on the 3rd and 4th lines so that he can round out his game. He’s got to dig in the corners, fight to get the puck back and make his line better. In today’s NHL, you can’t simply float around and wait for the puck to land on your stick in the offensive zone.

As much as we like to blame the coach, GM or anybody but the player, it’s not applicable here. Galchneyuk has to get angry, play more physical and work harder in his own end.

I entirely agree Paz. I’ve been a very vocal critic of Chucky. He’s lazy, spoiled, he’s got a very immature, crappy attitude.

And still, with a team scoring one goal per game, and Chucky’s trade value being at rock bottom, who’s the one being pig-headed about things?

I managed some real winners that previous management bestowed upon me. I was a middle manager in name only, really more a caretaker. So I learned to get along with what I got, stroking egos and making it work. If MB doesn’t care to do so, then trade him already. BUT in the meantime, make it work. If Chucky’s not going to be the bigger man, then maybe the GM and coach, both FORTY years older, can start acting more mature themselves.

That’s what I get for not checking for a new thread. I posted this in response to Gerry’s comments about Bergevin and Molson in the last thread:

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I get the angst with Bergevin, although I’m not sure I share it … yet. I’m willing to wait for the first 20 or 30 games to give the defense a chance to come together before deciding on how this team is going to look. The addition of Schlemko and Jerabek could change the complexion of the d in very short order.

Right now I think everyone is gripping their sticks a little too tight. Once the pucks start going in – and I really believe they will – things could turn around quickly.

The one thing I really find unwarranted is the criticism of Geoff Molson. As far as I can tell he has ponied up for everything Bergevin has asked for. The staff is much larger than it’s ever been. Every department was staffed up. This is the first year they haven’t spent to the cap and the fact that they haven’t this year (yet) has nothing to do with saving money.

To claim that Molson wants to make money from the Habs is kind of silly – I doubt there are very many team owners that run their clubs as charities. Other than the rare owner who can afford to own a team as a vanity project, sports teams are businesses which by definition are intended to make a profit.

But I really believe that Molson wants to win the cup as much as any other Habs fan. The difference is in how to proceed to get there. At some point – since every GM is hired to be fired – Molson will replace Bergevin. I would suggest that right now he thinks MB is doing a good job. If the team seriously falls apart I don’t think Bergevin will survive it for long.

I think it was Sam Pollock who said that the surest way to lose was to listen to the fans. It goes without saying, that every single one of us knows way more about both coaching and managing the Habs than any coach or GM they’ve ever had.

As I say, I’m still on the fence about Bergevin. Some of the moves he’s made have been good, some not so good. I also have a sneaky feeling that Markov may have an out in his KHL contract to come back after the Olympics. We’ll see.

If MB moves Galchenyuk without getting equivalent value in return, it will go a long way to jaundicing my view of him.

very person is different and responds to different things. I am not sure that the Habs have handled Galchenyuk as well as they should have.

The kid was going great at the end of the 2015-16 season and then to start the 2016-17 season. I am not sure if it is that hockey has become too systemized and structured that it has stifled Galchneyuk and others, or if it is the constant shuffling of him and the mixed messages from managament. More than likely, all of the above.

A perfect example would be LeClair. I have posted before so I apologize for rehashing this, but in an interview LeClair answered the question of why was he successful with Philly and he said because at the beginning of the season, when they put together the LOD line, they were told they would be kept together as long as they produced and played well, and that they would not be penalized for making mistakes, as long as they worked on correcting them.

LeClair said that is what really hurt his confidence in Montreal. He would have a few strong shifts, make a mistake, then be benched, dropped to another line, and it was not positive. Philly did not do that.

Fast forward to Galchenyuk. The coaches can tell him they believe in him and have confidence in him, but their use of him on the ice and the media messages from Bergevin say the opposite.

From day one, Bergevin publicly said he was the future star centre, they kept him his first season, even though he missed significant time hos last junior season. They started him on the wing, instead of 3rd or 4th line centre. If he was aa mature as Patches, he would have asked to go back to junior, since he was not able to go to the AHL.

Bergevin has hurt the team and Galchenyuk. If I were Molson, based on what happened with PK and Galchenyuk, adding in, where the Habs development is at this time, I would be thinking very hard about replacing Bergevin.

Bergevin decided to make Price the highest paid goalie. Did not sign Radulov earlier, saying publicy, that he did not want to jump the gun and wanted more time to see how he played later in the season. Maybe that is why when Bergevin offered the same coin that Dallas did, he decided to go to Dallas!

I get not wanting to sign Markov for 2 years, but was there really a rush to sign Streit when Markov was still looking for 2 years, or could Bergevin have waited a bit longer? In the end Markov did say he would sign for one season.

The Habs would look much different if Bergevin had signed Radulov as soon as he was allowed under league rules, waited for Markov, and if price really wanted that coin, traded him for a top centre, maybe Tavares!

I like the Drouin trade, although giving up Sergachev hurt. Imagine the Habs with a one two punch at Centre of Tavares and Drouin? Almost as good as Crosby/Malkin.

If they played their cards right, I think the Habs could still have a 1-2 punch of Drouin and Galchenyuk, which ain’t half bad either. They don’t seem interested in pursuing that though, which IMO is a shame.

If I remember correctly, Radulov was asking for 8 years initially when they started negotiating. I don’t think starting the negotiations earlier would have helped. Radulov was always going to test the market unless Bergevin gave him his first ask.

I believe Radulov backed off the maximum length deal when he found no team was willing to give him 7 years let alone 8.

This is one of those lose/lose deals for Bergevin. Lose Radulov to Dallas even though MB made the same offer before Dallas did – MB messed the bed. If he’d have made the offer high enough to make up for the tax differential, every fan would have been down his neck for over-paying.

I would be willing to bet that many of the same lynch Bergie mob who were sneering at signing Radulov last year – trouble maker, mercenary, won’t contribute anything – are the same ones whining because Bergevin only signed Radulov to a one year deal.

It’s called confirmation bias. People will look for “facts”, and interpretations that support their existing views. It is spectacularly evident in the case of Bergevin (particularly since the PK trade). I get a kick out of people who whine every time he signs some player to play in Laval. There’s Bergevin dumpster diving again.

Or the other amusing one – why doesn’t he go and get that #1 C or 1LD? He’s got 8.5 million what’s holding it up?

I can just hear the conversation:

MB: We want your #1 C.
Other GM: Sorry we’re not trading him.
MB: But I have 8.5 million in cap space.
OGM: Well why didn’t you say so. We’ll trade him to you for a fifth round pick.

I am not sure he was asking for that back in January when they could have resigned him. I believe that was the ask when free agency opened.
Perhaps because at that point, he was pissed and maybe his agent thought they had more leverage looking at what the Habs had.

As far as getting a 1st line centre or left D, as Bergevin keeps telling us, it is hard to do!

I think the quote from Bergevin was something along the lines of: “If you knew what Radulov’s agent was asking for in January, you’d fall off your chair”. That suggests negotiations started at least as far back as January.

Anybody catch The Laffs game last night?
Martin crushes Gibbons and Noesen(who is not a fighter jumps in and chucks them with Matt. Then later,Henrique of all people takes a run at Martin.
That’s what Team Mates do.
Devils win game.
Except for Shaw,and occasionally Weber,What Habs do that?
Face it, pretty soft bunch.

Chucky ignites a lot of controversy. Is it the chicken or the egg that comes first?

1) Chucky is his own problem. He has bad work ethic, immature attitude, won’t skate, backcheck, improve his faceoffs, blah blah blah… (I agree with this).

2) MB/MT/CJ ruined Chucky, won’t deploy him the way they should. Mess with his head, deny him real linemates, give his spot on the PP to Max, blah blah blah (I agree with this too, to a lesser extent).

Habs have scored four goals in four games. Sure, they’re still getting used to each other, working on chemistry, and calmer heads should be in charge, not ones that panic.

But how much longer can this go on? Chucky on the fourth line? Chucky in front of the net instead of where Max is on the PP, for the one timer? The spot where Chucky got half his goals during that 30 goal season?

If Max is a real leader, he says place Chucky on the top line. If CJ is a real coach, he puts Chucky on the PP in the right spot. If MB is a real GM, he lets those things happen, instead of ensuring they don’t.

I get the tough love thing. I get Chucky has a hand in contributing to his own issues. I’ve been a harsh critic. But when do you step aside and do what’s right for the team? When do you admit that rewarding a grinder (eg. Weise in the past) with PP time because he works hard is about as smart as placing your most talented forward on the fourth line, cause you don’t like his attitude? Even as your team averages one goal a game…

Character. MB is determined to beat it into his players. In in doing so, shows he lacks the patience, humility, and compassion that also come along with good character. Keep beating your head against that wall MB. That’s make a better person out of Chucky yet.

Word up. For a team that is struggling to put the puck in the net, demoting one of your best scorers to the 4th line to prove a point is a bit counter productive. Especially when you haven’t given him a chance to play with truly skilled players since the start of camp. What are they expecting to change? His level of effort has not been great, but it has not been terrible either. I’ve seen him hustle back to break up plays, get to his spot on the wall, etc. But he is not going to lead your forecheck, he is not going to be a airtight defensive player. That is not what he is.

I also agree with the Pacioretty bit. As far as I can tell, he has done a pretty poor job unifying that dressing room the last couple of years. Far too moody and possibly not inclusive enough. Good humour and a love for the game does not emanate from this squad, and hasn’t for a while.

Four or five years ago, the future for this team looked very bright. Pleks, Max, PK, Markov, and Price were carrying the team, and Galchenyuk, Gallagher, and Eller were going to improve and add to the mix.

Fast forward five years later, and PK has turned into Weber, Pleks is on fumes with no replacement, Marky and Eller are gone, Gally is recovering from a twice broken hand, and Galchenyuk fourth line trade bait.

I agree whole heartedly Gerry, it’s certainly a difficult situation.
Chucky has a lip on due to being deployed with a couple of hammerheads and I get that. It’s definitely not the best use of our assets but he hasn’t earned top six minutes either.
On the one hand, it’s important to show that the club is a meritocracy on the other, we desperately need goals so these teachable moments are literally costing us games. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t and you’re absolutely right that it’s very much a chicken and the egg scenario.
One thing that I would add is that apart from his one timer ability from the off wing, there isn’t much to be optimistic about. At best, he’s a one trick pony. He’s really not a very good hockey player…

Chucky’s not out of shape. That’s ludicrous. I saw him live and he actually looks stronger than ever. He’s just lost. He’s not anticipating the play and looks like he’s a step behind (sorta like Sherbak). There are definitely chemistry issues out there and it does not apply just to him. The biggest issue is not the line-mates but the slow guys on D. I’ll say it again for the 1000th time: Benn can’t move the puck and Streit is too slow. Put in a Jerabek and the forwards will look 10x better.

Agreed. They need to get Jerabek in the lineup, although it won’t happen until next week IMO, when they’ll have to make a final decision on Mete. If they keep the kid, they will need to waive at least one of Streit or Morrow (which is presumably why they are trying to deal Streit, to save him the indignity), and probably both. Right now they are carrying 9 d-men and that will not continue.

#1. The kid needs to shave that beard. He ain’t fooling anyone, he’s not in his best shape.

#2. Less tattoos, more training. I’m all for body art, so long as it makes you puck-hungry and go to the net. His skating hasn’t improved in 5 years, inexcusable.

#3. He floats on the PP, same as Pacioretty, looking for that lane to blast a laser but rarely catching the goalie moving. Both guys need to fix this.

#4. The ‘poor linemates’ excuse is utterly pathetic. It’s not even barely defensible – he’s playing with guys who have no problem contributing collectively. He’s been the weakest link on every line he’s been on, since returning from injury.

Does anyone think that Drouin needs to play with better linemates? He makes his line better, and Galchenyuk has the talent to do that. He just needs to take his hockey career more seriously.

#3 – Max is no example. Part of the bigger (than Chucky) problem. You’re on to something here.

#4 – Linemates aside, maybe he should be put in positions to succeed. That means help on and off the ice. During and after the season as well. We’re pathetic in this department. No thought leadership throughout the organization. Haven’t had it since Saku.

1. His training or diet is off. I’d bet he’s training really hard to get big and strong and not fast and lean – from the looks of it he’s been bulking for a very long time and not working on his skating / endurance enough.

2. See #1, less time looking the mirror and more time doing wind sprints.

2. Whatever might give him the confidence and mindset to be successful, I’m all for. Training on and off obviously critical but the mind and mindset is what separates superstars from just talented guys. Rather he have Kanye like delusions of himself and play well than the alternative.

3. PP is just atrocious period. Patches on the point? Hahahahahhaha. SIGH

Galchenyuk needs to wake the fack up, no question. I would not debate that for a second. But hanging out at left wing on a line with Danault and Shaw is not a tonic for an offensive player. It is a punishment.

Anyway, the debate is tired. Galchenyuk is responsible for his level of effort, the management and the coaching staff is responsible for putting him in a position to succeed. Both have fallen down and a $5M/year offensive player is patrolling the 4th line. Where he’ll be useful as what?

Therrien was repeatedly bashed here for his “mishandling” of Galchenyuk, his moving him around the lineup, his “messing with his head.” Now Julien is starting to get the same thing.

As I see it, Galchenyuk had lots of chances under Therrien. Therrien was trying to help him develop into the role of centre. It didn’t really work, but this wasn’t because of anything Therrien did. Galchenyuk had succerss at centre playing with Radulov and Pacioretty, but on that line it was Radulov who did the playmaking. Galchenyuk to my eyes has never shown much playmaking ability, much ability to use his linemates well. He’s a sniper.

Under Julien, Galchenyuk has not so far earned a chance to play on one of the top lines. Look at his expression on the bench, look at his body language. They say it all. He doesn’t really want to succeed here, or at least he doesn’t care enough to do what it takes to succeed. Work hard, do everything possible to excel in the role you’re given, try to earn a larger role.

Glachenyuk’s talent dictates that he should play on a top line, but so far he hasn’t deserved the chance to do so. It’s conceivable that putting him there might galvanize him, but what kind of a message would this send to the rest of the team, to guys like Byron, Hudon, and Lehkonen, guys who work their a$$es off every night on whatever line they play?

At this point, it’s up to Galchenyuk. He gets time on the powerplay; he should make the most of that and work hard on the third or fourth line. If he does, he’ll move up.

I think Galchenyuk was unquestionably mishandled at the beginning — he should certainly have been sent back to Junior the year he was drafted; but I’m starting more and more to question the original pick. This was our highest pick since before Carey Price; yet we somehow managed to pick a kid who doesn’t really seem to care about becoming an outstanding hockey player, or who doesn’t realize that it’s up to him. Galchenyuk also gives me the impression of not being very intelligent, either on or off the ice. I find it strange that a team that values “character” so much should have misread even an 18-year old as badly as they seem to have done in this case.

Like Max said, Chucky hit two posts last game. One of those goes in and no one is talking. Drouin is the only offensively talented center the team has.

MB needs to get off his butt and get an offensive center. LV has one that they are not using. One that he could have got for free if he didn’t waste him time making offers to Rads and Markov that they were not going to take. Shipachyov is a 2nd line center easily on this team. That’s puts Pleks 3 and Danault 4 and you’re rolling 4 good lines. I could easily see a Chucky-Ship-Sherbak line one day. What does MB have to lose???

Habitoban think of chucky as brett hull, do you think he would score all those goals if he didn”t have oates passing the puck to him for one timers. Galchenyuk is being misused. Coach is an ahole, never liked him. da bruin

This is not always the case. It is true that gifted players , perform much better when given linemates that have the same skill level. But there has to be a balance, by which I mean, not placing three play-makers on the same line, at least one has to be a shooter. They do all have to have similar hockey sense or (hockey IQ).

If you put a great player with two players that cannot shoot,take a pass, or think the game much slower than they do, they may get them a few more points, but no enough.

I would argue, last season, when Galchenyuk was doing so well, he did allow his linemates to excel as well.
Habfan17

If Galchenyuk is such a talented player doesn’t he deserve a shot on the first line? Management can only point the finger at themselves because they screwed up this guy royally.
“I hate the Leafs like a sickness”

Every person is different and responds to different things. I am not sure that the Habs have handled Galchenyuk as well as they should have.

The kid was going great at the end of the 2015-16 season and then to start the 2016-17 season. I am not sure if it that hockey has become too systemized and structured that it has stifled Galchneyuk and others, or if it is the constant shuffling of him and the mixed messages from managament. More than likely, all of the above.

A perfect example would be LeClair. I have posted before so I apologize for rehashing this, but in an interview LeClair answered the question of why was he successful with Philly and he said because at the beginning of the season, when they put together the LOD line, they were told they would be kept together as long as they produced and played well, and that they would not be penalized for making mistakes, as long as they worked on correcting them.

LeClair said that is what really hurt his confidence in Montreal. He would have a few strong shifts, make a mistake, then be benched, dropped to another line, and it was not positive. Philly did not do that.

Fast forward to Galchenyuk. The coaches can tell him they believe in him and have confidence in him, but their use of him on the ice and the media messages from Bergevin say the opposite.

From day one, Bergevin publicly said he was the future star centre, they kept him his first season, even though he missed significant time hos last junior season. They started him on the wing, instead of 3rd or 4th line centre. If he was aa mature as Patches, he would have asked to go back to junior, since he was not able to go to the AHL.

Bergevin has hurt the team and Galchenyuk. If I were Molson, based on what happened with PK and Galchenyuk, adding in, where the Habs development is at this time, I would be thinking very hard about replacing Bergevin.

Bergevin decided to make Price the highest paid goalie. Did not sign Radulov earlier, saying publicy, that he did not want to jump the gun and wanted more time to see how he played later in the season. Maybe that is why when Bergevin offered the same coin that Dallas did, he decided to go to Dallas!

I get not wanting to sign Markov for 2 years, but was there really a rush to sign Streit when Markov was still looking for 2 years, or could Bergevin have waited a bit longer? In the end Markov did say he would sign for one season.

The Habs would look much different if Bergevin had signed Radulov as soon as he was allowed under league rules, waited for Markov, and if price really wanted that coin, traded him for a top centre, maybe Tavares!

I like the Drouin trade, although giving up Sergachev hurt. Imagine the Habs with a one two punch at Centre of Tavares and Drouin? Almost as good as Crosby/Malkin.
Habfan17

Galchenyuk has problems, like most of the offense. They’ve tried Hemsky, Gallagher and now Lehkonen on the top line. Will be interested to see what they do next if Lehk doesn’t work out. My guess is that Shaw will be next, then followed by Byron and Hudon on their off-wings before Galchenyuk is tried at RW.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

Alex has trouble with defensive play from his ON wing. Playing him on his off wing will only expose his defensive liabilities more.

Look, I do not like Julien one little bit. I don’t think he’s an upgrade over Therrien (to whom I was gloriously indifferent towards). I think he’s a goon.

But Julien is not unwilling to let kids play. He’s shown that. He’s unwilling to let kids float and coast.

If Alex wants top line duty, he’ll have to work his ass off and prove he can do that game after game on the lower lines. When he establishes a reputation with Julien as a dedicated and hard worker, his play will naturally bump him up the lineup.

It’s how Marchand went from a Rat Faced Shawsy type player to a top line Rat Faced 30 goal winger scoring 85 points last season.

Galchenyuk is -1 with 16 minutes ice time per game and no points. Lehkonen and Shaw are -2 with similar ice time per game and no points. Lehkonen’s awareness on the ice has been nowhere near what it was last year and yet he gets a top line assignment. And I love Lehkonen but that boneheaded pass back to Benn on the PK that resulted in a goal would have put Galchenyuk straight to the bench.

I’m not saying to put Galchenyuk on the top line and leave him there for 30 games come hell or high water. Just try him for 4-5 games and see how it works.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

It is chuckys linemates, put him with druoin and he will produce as much as pacman who keeps getting fed the puck in galchenyuks spot, top of the right face off circle and he can not shoot a one timer near as good as galchenyuk. I hope we fire MB and CJ before they do something stupid like trade galchenyuk. FIRE THEM NOW.

Drouin would be working his tail off every shift to change things and get back to the first line, AG27 is not doing any thing to change his situation and it is getting hard to blame coaches when they are all doing the same thing but only to this one player.

Well, the good news today is that the Maple Leafs parade route planning committee has postponed all meetings until further notice. Let’s hope they don’t have one immediately following the game on Saturday.

Chucky needs to play with good players to be effective….he certainly appears to be out of shape, slow and making bad decisions – which is not helping the situation…4 games played and he’s been mostly invisible.

This Galchenyuk stuff is making me a littke crazy (more than normal crazy). The guy doesn’t need motivation, he needs talented linemates and icetime. This us a guy rhat had scored 30 goals in the NHL, in a league where only 26 players managed to do that last year, so he is in the top 5% of the league in terms of scoring talent. He was almost a PPG player last year before hIs injury. This guy can score on a team that can’t finish…why is he on the 4th line? It’s not like anyone else is scoring. It’s not like the top two lines are set. IT’S MAKING ME CRAZY BECAUSE IT MAKES NO SENSE.

Please, someone talk to management and stop the insanity. The Gumper has been having nightmares for god’s sake, our collective mental health is on the line. At least find ways to lose without shooting yourself in the foot first. That I could probably medicate for. No pharmaceutical can fix this kind of crazy.

Totally with you. Even in February last year when his numbers started tailing, he was still scoring at a 25 goal pace.

Much like they needed an injury to DD to finally feature Galchenyuk last year, I think they’ll need another injury to be forced to do it again this year.

The thing about him though is that he does make boneheaded passes this year, repeatedly. Can’t remember him doing that as much last year. But he is constantly put on lines with guys who can’t carry the puck so he has to do it and that is not his strength. Put him with Drouin and tell him to find a soft spot in the D and wait for the pass for a one-timer.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

And these eyes and understanding tell you the other guys are playing great on the PP? Cause my eyes and understanding show me a bunch of guys standing around with their backs to the boards passing the puck uselessly to one another with no one in front of the net. But I must be seeing things because they are scoring profusely on the PP.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

DipsyDoodler Have you seen anybody give galchenyuk a pass on the powerplay,I”ll answer that NO. they spend the whole powerplay trying to set up pacman at the top of the right circle where galchenyuk should be.

The advanced metric I’d like to see for the Habs is “Time spent blocking the goalie’s view on a shot”. My guess is that our guys spend way more time blocking Price’s view than the opposing goalie’s. That metric might tell us a bit more about why the Habs are shooting at 2.5%. Most experts will tell you that a NHL goalie will generally stop most shots he sees.

Another good metric for the Habs would be “% of total shots aimed at the goalie’s crest”, or “% of shots where goalie didn’t have to move to make a save”.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

It is becoming more & more apparent that the game plan and/or philosophy of the Montreal Canadiens is to score one goal and hope that Price gets a shutout. Part of the problem is that the defence sucks so getting a shutout is extremely difficult. The good news is that they do seem to be able to score one goal per game. I really don’t see any major changes until there are unpaid empty seats in the Bell Centre on a regular basis, yeah, good luck on that one.

The players are paid to succeed, not “try”. No team wins every game but the best teams win a lot more than they lose. The Habs are beginning to remind me of the Laffs of the past 20 years (not so far this year however) in that it doesn’t matter how much they lose, the arena is still always full.

Part of me thinks that the issue with Galchenyuk is that he didn’t have to spend any time in the minors. Make a guy spend a year or two in the AHL and it (presumably) gives him the message that he has to prove himself to get to the big show by working his a$$ off and focusing on hockey. From the outside looking it, it’s almost as if he doesn’t care.

Some kids (McDavid, Crosby, Matthews, etc) are so talented that they can make that jump easily, and perhaps they are who they are because they already have that work ethic. But I would argue that some young players – much like many kids at that age – have had the way paved for them because of their talent and have never really been forced to develop that work ethic. So giving them the keys to the proverbial car at 19 may just compound the problem.

I was speaking to immaturity, rumours of which have swirled around AG for years. Call the cops on your girlfriend after being assaulted in the wee hours type immaturity. Stuff that doesn’t dog Crosby or McDavid, but does E. Kane.

Perhaps AG needs to grow up in order to be a hockey player worth spending $4.9M per year on. Perhaps if he’d grown up earlier, he’d be making $7M for the next 8 years.

The numbers are good to confirm what you’re seeing on the ice, but shouldn’t be used to argue against what you’re seeing. In the Habs case, that’s a mistake-prone, perimeter team that lacks the talent to compensate.

Good corsi for the Pleks line, but we could already guess that from watching the games.

What does it tell us that we don’t already know? that galchenyuk has a decent corsi? Does that really matter if he wasn’t scoring?

Discussion about time of possession metric in the previous thread and how they have it in football and not in hockey. It’s a neat stat but really, it doesn’t matter in football much either when you face a guy like Aaron Rodgers who crosses the field with a minute left for the game-winning TD. In hockey, you can play real well for 57 minutes but if you totally screw the pooch for the other three and get lit up for 4 goals, metrics aren’t worth crap.

The bottom line is that hard work and character without top end talent in pro sports doesn’t get you far.

And the only metric that counts in hockey is how many times you manage to put the puck in the net vs your opposition. If you can’t do that, the other stats are like participation medals.

—————-
Oh my Dahlin, oh my Dahlin
Oh my Dahlin, our blue line
Has been shot and lacks a leader
Please be there for our blue line

Yup, it’s all Galchenyuk’s fault that coach Jabba decided that he’s not good enough and puts him with no talents, like plugger Danault. Remember him? The one that took his #1 center spot after Galchenyuk’s knee injury last season? Everyone here was so impressed with his hard work. Sorry, folks, but that’s what plugs do; they work hard and usually nothing comes of it.
Team is too small up front with not enough scoring talent and players, as usual, are being used in the wrong positions.
You wonder why UFAs don’t come to Montreal? Wonder no longer. They know that management and coaching in Montreal is full of sh**.

Habs 22nd in PK and 27th in PP(0goals)…Leafs have 8 PP goals…If the PP stats were reversed than Habs would have 12 goals this year and Leafs 13…The odds are pretty good that the Leafs PP stats will dominate the Habs this year along with many other teams PP stats..

How did this kid lose his way? It must be his fault for sure. Surely his character is in question?
Perhaps he learned that if a young player in Montreal makes a mistake it’s to the dungeon (or the 3rd line..or the fourth line where his chance of success is minimized)
Perhaps he sees vets given thirtieth, fourtieth and fiftieth chances.
Perhaps he sees a fiery young D squeezing his stick and shuffled off to Buffalo to be replaced by a bearded iceberg who is melting before our eyes.
Hey Andy? You having fun again? Playing with who? Wow!

C’mon Bergie…trade him for an over the hill vet who has 0 potential and is skating on fumes.